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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2004-04-28, Page 1Discount Mortgage Canada Inc. Joy Finlayson & Sharon Medd Mortgage Consultants "Finally, a company that starts with a discount" I•u . ill ( I)) 5;27 -05(r() iispITEE Sharon Medd, Assodate Broker M.V.A. Appraiser Visit: nris.ea tor Information of listings In Huron/Perth ednesday, April 28, 2004 In brief $1.25 includes GST Doug Elliott, CPP. B.Matn UKC ries as April 27. 2004 Subjevt to change. B.$t CL I.Ce Rotes 2% 336% 5Y 4.'% CARTIER PARTNERS FINANCIAL SERVICES -A Dime Wrath Mareganmt Cun<ary- I� �I(Zlll 26 Main St., Seaforth 527-2222 Agar hopes to hold Come Home to the Country festival Maureen Agar wants to bring people back to the country in 2005. Last night, Agar held a meeting to discuss different ideas for Come Home to the Country a community -wide celebration that would capture the spirit formed nearly 10 years ago in Seaforth with Homecoming '95. "The homecoming was so nice because everyone was just so friendly and so happy to see each other. It was justa good feeling getting back , together again," she said. "For anybody that was around during Homecoming '95, it was just a wonderful weekend where everybody had a chance to come back to the area." Right now, Agar is looking for utterested groups from the community to help organize the event. She has already talked with the Seaforth --- Business -1 Improvement Area (B.I.A), Optimist Club and volunteers at the Van Egmond House. "This meeting this week will give us a chance to figure out ways we can actually contact more groups and more people." Agar carne up with the idea for the festival earlier this year and imagined it to be a country -western talent show similar to Canadian Idol, but she wants to hear other people's ideas. "1 just kind of look at Come Home to the Country as a chance for everybody to come and just have an enjoyable time as a family," said Agar. Although no official plans for the festival have been made, Agar wants it to be held on the long weekend of August, 2005. By Jason Middleton 111=211111— St,. James performs At The Hop... Page S Blood donor kik held last ThursciQy... Page 6 Three Seaforth hockey players reach OHA finals ... Page 14 `Tornado' tests town's emergency plan Huron East's emergency control group tests response in `tabletop storm centre exercise' By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Ahnost a week after 100 km/h winds flattened barns and downed trees and hydro poles in Tuckersmith, Huron East's emergency control group responded to a tornado through the north end of Seaforth. The "storm centre tabletop exercise" Friday morning took the mayor, municipal staff, firefighters, police, hydro representatives and Huron County social services through a two-hour process of walking through the muncipality's emergency plan. "A tornado is a high probability around here this time of year. There were 51 tornadoes through the U.S. this past week," said Huron County's community emergency management coordinator (CEMC), Gary Wood. "You may never have to activate your plan but if the real thing comes around, you don't want to be mesmerized by the disaster. You want to be able to solve the problem," he said. Wood said Huron East is the fourth of 11 Huron County communities in the Huron East Mayor Joe Seili listens as Public Works Coordinator John Forrest recommends the tornado exercise that tested the municipality's emergency plan last Friday at Seaforth's town ha Susan Hundertmark photo action to take during a "tabletop" II. process of testing their emergency plans. "It went marvellously," said Wood of the Huron East exercise. The emergency exercise centred around one tornado touching down briefly over the waste water treatment plant in Harpurhey, damaging the building and knocking Susan Hundertmark photo Earth Day experiment Students at St. James School including Dean Johnston, Kaleb Arts and Jeff De Corte, observe Earth Day last Thursday by adding Impurities to Bayfield River water to watch how they affect the water. out electricity and a second tornado touching down behind Munn's Grove, continuing northeast and wiping out several homes in the Seaforth Glen subdivision behind the arena. In the emergency scenario, one man is killed and five others are taken to Seaforth Community Hospital, caused by collapsed home. Several are still trapped in their homes and hydro is out in half the town. Two houses are on fire. Huron East Fire Chief and CEMC Marty Bedard said one of the aims of the exercise was to test the communications skills of the emergency control group. Messages about the disaster as it unfolded were radioed to a message centre in town hall and the written versions of those messages were then delivered to the appropriate individuals in the municipal control group. "The reason note -taking is See HURON, Page 2 Rural halls threatened by provincial water regs By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor The high costs of meeting more stringent provincial water guidelines might lead to the closure of small rural community halls in Huron East. That was the fear of Huron East councillors as they agreed to write a letter to the provincial Ministry of the Environment, with copies to Huron -Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell and Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle, at last Tuesday's council meeting. "I want to make a motion to write the ministry and request they view rural halls with less stringent regulations due to the financial constraints on them," said Tuckersmith Coun. Larry McGrath. "If they don't, we might as well run a bulldozer through all the halls," he added. Public Works Coordinator John Forrest presented a report to council showing that in order to meet new provincial water regulations at each of Huron East's five community halls, the municipality will have to pay $6,630 annually to maintain the necessary ultraviolet systems and to do weekly water samples. The cost of installing a unit is estimated at $9,380 when engineedng, sampling, municipal labour and transportation costs and See EXPENSE, Pepe 2 Chalk Street residents complain to council about trafficp roblems "It should not be necessary for us to call the school or police to move improperly parked cars when they encroach on residential driveways so that it is . difficult if not impossible to enter or exit our private driveways," said the letter. As well, the letter complains about the "steel - sided barn style building" that houses the new daycare centre along with a garbarge bin and storage shed at the front of the property. "These are not structures that we wish to view from our front yard in our residential zone. Do these By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Chalk Street residents are concerned about traffic congestion and property values near Seaforth Public School and the Seaforth Cooperative Children's Centre. A letter, signed by 11 residents, was received by Huron East council at its April 20 meeting. The letter complains that traffic has increased "greatly and not in an orderly fashion" on Chalk Street with cars parked across private driveways. conform to any site plan? Was a building permit issued for the shed? We again were not contacted. It just showed up," said the letter. Kevin Williamson, project coordinator of the daycare, told council the daycare has been planning to landscape the new -location but hasn't had much cooperation from the weather. "We've been trying to move as quick as we can. We have huge landscaping plans ahead of us and we really believe it will add to the saleability of the houses in the neighbourhood in the See BOARD, Pepe $ LEARN HOW TO STEP A LITTLE LIGHTER AT OUR 6-3088 HO S. uray, May 1,20049amt. 4 m Hourly Door Prizes, Food Sampling Free Consultations for Weight Management and All types of Health Concerns WEIGHT MANAGEMENT AND NUTRITION CENTRES NEW WEIGHT ?NARY SVppLOSS R let LENENrswevitiosssw„i bRAIVIOR fa WEIGHT ROOMS Weight ots Start d *Excluding Prod GRAND PRIZE DRAW 5350 Shopping Sprue at MaSrinville Mall in London A